The Sergeant - Stronghold Crusader AI Lords

The Sergeant is a skirmish opponent in Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition (available in The Sergeant and the Lioness DLC).

Overview

The Sergeant is another battle-hardened veteran, who puts great emphasis on designing castles with care, and high productivity. Having utilised the combined-arms principle in his field battles in the Middle East, the Sergeant also prefers to deploy a large variety of troops in his formations. Due to his sprawling and large castle blueprints, this more laid-back commander likes to dig in and establish a more imposing than effective defensive network, before he finally engages in a proper siege with troops from all three factions.

Castles & Defenses

The Sergeant likes his domain more than anything else, and it shows in his castle designs: he likes to build very large settlements carefully divided in districts. Usually the Keep is surrounded with up to three central districts encased in a ring of thick, crenellated walls, Large Gatehouses and Round Towers housing Crossbowmen and Ballistae. Several outer districts may be adjoining the sanctum with a line of low wall bordering the castle, with several Perimeter Turrets overlooking the outer corners with Arabian Bowmen garrisoned on top, as well as Square Towers and Mangonels. All sections of the castle houses a large number of food and weapons industry buildings, and the districts themselves may also be joined by Small Gatehouses and added Moat. Skirmishers are also added on certain wall sections to provide additional volleys on enemies close-by. In certain designs, Pikemen may also be standing guard in various points of the outer districts.

The Sergeant will be frequently patrolling his outlying buildings with a colorful mix of Pikemen, Arabian bowmen, Skirmishers and Crossbowmen, as well as he sends out a bunch of Skirmishers to handle harassment efforts.

Size above all, dictates the Sergeant's design doctrine, which results in a densely packed and large interior. It can provide plenty of cover to your troops, once you make through the easily breakable outer wall. Even though the Sergeant has troops everywhere, he lacks the effective firepower to quickly dispatch a bunch of Sappers breaking in. The core of his castle is way more fortified, as troops from the Keep and surrounding towers may catch your troops in a crossfire. In the next phase of your infiltration, bringing in a Siege Tower or two and deploying them against the core walls may be your most effective tactic, using the Sergeant's thick and continuous wall line against him. Either charge in quickly and overwhelm either side's staff with swift troops, or use the ample number of blind spots to slowly whittle down the defenders quarter by quarter.

Be wary of the numerous defenders on the Keep, who may decide to welcome you with considerable firepower and even attempt to re-conquer the occupied side. Position your ranged infantry in the Round Tower so that the Keep's units will miss with many projectiles, while some heavy duty troops repel the sporadic response force from the Sergeant. Eunuchs with their cleave attack may be very useful against the mass Pikemen and Demolishers tossed against you. Most of the time there will be stairs leading straight to the Keep, so you may choose to either rush in once the Keep has been thinned out, or work your way to the other side of the castle, which may bombard you with Mangonel rocks and Ballista bolts. Usually an overwhelming force will do the job, but you may choose to clear the castle, and thus secure yourself an easy victory as well.

Economy

The Sergeant builds a thriving economy on the back of a large stone and iron industry, as he fully develops his processing industry in the castle. He builds up to six Stone Quarries and four Iron Mines, but he also produces Bread and Ale in absurd quantity, with an even more impressive number of weapons workshops. His castle design limits the effectiveness of his buildings in return of being well protected, but still his war machine allows for a never-ending recruitment once fully developed. For good measure, the Sergeant also builds a number of Good Things, which may yield up to 2 to 3 positive Fear Factor points.

Raids & Sieges

While the Sergeant pours most of his effort into building his castle and defensive network, he tries to make merit on the field of battle with a rather lazy effort. Preferring to use Skirmishers as an universal tool, the Sergeant features them early on as a raiding party to disrupt the flow of the enemy's economy, as well. These inexpensive groups serve merely as a tool of distraction, however in later stages these may be added Macemen too, which can survive more hits and destroy a few buildings quickly. Like most advanced lords, the Sergeant may also opt to construct raiding Catapults and send them forward to pummel buildings as much as possible, however he will most likely get the spare gold and do so while his siege army is deployed.

Definitely the more impressive side of the Sergeant is his siege attempts. His armies consist of bulky, slow units that can take quite the punishment before falling. Demolishers are the cornerstone of the Sergeant's main formation, with assorted Arabian Swordsmen and Pikemen as accompanying auxiliary units and moat-diggers. A small squad of Crossbowmen is also brought to cover the rear and the siege engines from flanking attempts, while the armored units do the busywork by attempting to carve a way in the target castle. A band of siege Engineers is also brought to the scene, who are instructed to construct Catapults and Trebuchets to initiate long-ranged bombardment.

Seeing a sieging party from the Sergeant definitely takes time. Should it arrive though, you will be more than prepared even in a large starting gold game. Your countermeasures should involve a good number of Mangonels placed in large towers, which can quickly create a 'zone of death' and clobber to the heavily shielded units into submission. Additionally, since the Sergeant's army is surprisingly light on ranged forces, deploying a large number of hard-hitting units such as Macemen, Assassins or even Eunuchs with their double scimitars can be viable on the field. If you prefer a more passive form of defense, Crossbowmen & Fire Ballistae in ample numbers should be your best bet, with a continuous ring of Moat covering your walls, as the Sergeant brings considerably few troops to fill in the watery depths. Earlier on, deploy a middle-sized group of ranged units supported by melee units or Fire Ballistae to fend off the bands of Skirmishers that may venture near your farms and quarries.